The actress, who plays Franky Fitzgerald, told Digital Spy that her character will become involved in a controversial new storyline.

"I have a vague idea what's in store," she teased. "It's quite dramatic. I think it's going to be a bit of a 'Marmite' storyline, you're either going to love it یا hate it. Hopefully [people will] love it. It's going to be a challenge."

Richards added that she had been "learning all the time" while filming the show's fifth series, which concluded in March.

"We didn't know who our characters would end up being, because they kind of wrote it as we went along," she said. "It was actually a really interesting way of working, because it allowed me to put a lot مزید of my own thoughts into [the character]."